Coaching Experience
• Assistant Coach/Safeties, Cornell University (2021-present)
• Assistant Coach/Interim Defensive Coordinator/Special Teams Coordinator, Bloomsburg University (2013-21)
• Assistant Coach/Strength & Conditioning Coach, Nichols College (2011-13)
• Assistant Coach, Western Connecticut State University (2009-11)
Playing Experience
• Howard University (2004-07)
Education
• B.A., Accounting, Howard University (2008)
• M.B.A., Business Administration with concentration in Sports Management, Nichols College (2012)
At Cornell
Will Blanden joined the Cornell football coaching staff in July 2021 as defensive backs coach and was elevated to Defensive Pass Game Coordinator in 2023. In 2024, he is set to oversee safeties. In 2023, Blanden's pass game defense forced five interceptions and a fumble. He spent the previous eight years at Bloomsburg where he coached the defensive line, linebackers, and defensive backs and served as special teams coordinator during his time with the Huskies. Blanden most recently was the interim defensive coordinator in the spring of 2021 before joining the Big Red. He also has previous stops at Nichols College and Western Connecticut State. In his first three seasons with the Big Red, Blanden has developed four different All-Ivy League players.
Prior to Cornell
In seven seasons at Bloomsburg, Blanden’s teams went 52-28 with a pair of NCAA Division II Playoff appearances. He coached three All-Americans, including two on the defensive line, along with a conference Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team Academic All-American. Among his charges were 2014 BSN National Player of the Year Justin Shirk, who was invited to training camp with the Indianapolis Colts, as well as the school's all-time sacks leader, Chris Gary (29.5 sacks). Overall, his unit accounted for 84.5 of the team’s 115.5 sacks over the team's past four campaigns.
Prior to his arrival at Bloomsburg, Blanden mentored the defensive backs and served as strength and conditioning coach at Division III Nichols College for two seasons. His players excelled in the classroom with four defensive backs earning NEFC Academic All-Conference honors during his tenure.
Blanden began his coaching career as defensive backs coach at Western Connecticut State in 2009 and spent two seasons with the Colonials. In addition to his positional responsibilities, he was in charge of formulating a daily practice script, devising the passing game, screens, draws, and gadgets section of the scouting report, and was the coordinator of the punt return team.
Playing Career
Blanden joined both the football and basketball teams at Howard as a walk-on, eventually earning time at quarterback, defensive back and wide receiver during his career on the gridiron. He earned a total of four varsity letters, four in football, and earned a scholarship for his final two seasons on the football team. In 2006, Blanden ranked second on the team in total offense and accounted for four touchdowns as the Bison won four of their final five games of the season. He earned a predraft workout initiation in 2008 by the Washington Redskins. He earned his accounting degree in 2008 before being awarded his Master’s in business administration with a concentration in sports management from Nichols in 2012. In 2011 he played for the Trenton Steel of the Southern Indoor Football League.
Personal
A member of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Blanden was a 2011 NCAA Future Coaches Academy participant, a three-year volunteer (2010-12) at Lauren’s First and Goal Football Camp at Lafayette College, and a two-year volunteer (2011-12) at former New York Jets and Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini’s Youth Football Camp in Hartford, Connecticut. Blanden has been a volunteer with Lauren First and Goal since 2010 and served three years as Bloomsburg’s advisor to the gospel choir.
* Updated July 2024
